Dental implant is an artificial replacement for a tooth root. The dental implant is usually made out of titanium alloy and is surgically and permanently affixed within the bone structure of a patient's jaw to serve as a support for an artificial crown, fixed partial denture or a removable denture. The implant device includes on its coronal end an abutment or a platform to support a releaseably coupled abutment. The abutment extends through the gum tissue to receive a prosthesis.
In order to surgically place a cylindrical dental implant, a hole is drilled into the patient's jawbone and then the implant assembly is inserted into the hole. The implant assembly has on one end of its body a head portion to support the prosthesis, the implant body is used to integrate with the surrounding bone and it ends with a flat or rounded apex, the main function of the implant body is to give support to the prosthesis. In order to do that, it needs to permanently adhere to the surrounding bone in a process called Osseointegration. Increasing the implant body surface area will increase the implant body integration with the surrounding bone.
Before and during implant surgery, the height and width of the available jawbone in the implant site should be assessed and it is recommended to use a longer implant if possible in order to increase the surface area. In the market today implant companies manufacture various lengths of implants to allow the surgeon to place the longest implant possible into the available bone in the implant site.